Why Did Kodak of Rentals: Movie Gallery Fail?
Doubled Down on Stores as the Stores Died
📜 What Happened
Everyone remembers Blockbuster; Movie Gallery was the #2 chain that made the same mistake HARDER. In 2005 — a year after Netflix was obviously working — it paid $850M to acquire Hollywood Video, doubling its bet on physical stores with heavy debt. Streaming and Redbox's $1 kiosks ate the market from both ends while Movie Gallery serviced acquisition loans. Bankruptcy in 2007, a brief exit, bankruptcy again in 2010 — total liquidation, 4,700 stores gone.
☠️ The Fatal Mistake
Financing a bigger position in a dying model with debt — mistaking consolidation for strategy.
🧠 The Lesson (Free for You)
Being the last, biggest player in a shrinking market means you win the largest share of the funeral. When the tide is going out, buying more beach is not a plan.
📕 The Antidote Book
'Never quit' is terrible advice. Godin's model: every pursuit follows one of three curves — the DIP (starts fun, gets brutally hard, then pays off enormously for those who push through: the artificial barrier that…
📖 OPEN THE FULL INTERACTIVE BREAKDOWN →Searchable, filterable, free to read — they paid billions; your lesson is free.